Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Believe in America Mitt Romney's Plan for Jobs and Economic Growth by Mitt Romney Romney’s Economic Plan Would Kill 360,000 Jobs In 2013 Alone. The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced today that 163,000 jobs were created in the U.S. last month, but that the unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 8.3 percent. Mitt Romney, of course, seized on the latter data point, calling it “a hammer blow to middle-class families.” “Yesterday, I launched my Plan for a Stronger Middle-Class that will bring more jobs and more take home pay. My plan will turn things around and bring the economy roaring back, with twelve millions new jobs created by the end of my first term,” Romney said. Romney claim that his plan will create 12 million jobs is one that his economic advisers have been echoing. However, a Center for American Progress Action Fund analysis found that Romney plan would actually kill 360,000 jobs next year alone: In a white paper outlining his economic platform, Believe in America: Mitt Romney’s Plan for Jobs and Economic Growth, he offers a 59-point plan to create jobs and lower unemployment. Unfortunately, no amount of economic theory, real world evidence, basic arithmetic, or just plain logic could substantiate the belief that his 59-point jobs plan could create even 59 net new jobs in the U.S. economy… In total, by a conservative tally, Gov. Romney’s 59-point plan would actually cost the economy about 360,000 jobs in 2013 alone. Several of Romney’s proposals entail no change in policy, so its unclear how they would create jobs. Several others — including tax incentives for outsourcing — would actively undermine U.S. employment. Remember, Romney’s job creation record as governor was hardly stellar, as Massachusetts was 47th in job creation during his tenure. 163,000 jobs created is encouraging, albeit too few to substantially bring down the unemployment rate. But the unemployment rate would be a full percentage point lower were it not for the hundreds of thousands of public sector layoffs that have occurred as a result of budget cutbacks. And Romney would double down on those sort of austerity measures, slicing the budget while cutting taxes for the rich under an economic ideology that has failed to produce results. David Limbaugh: Mitt Romney’s unabashed hatred of Trump blinds him to reality of president’s popularity. Romney seems more comfortable breaking bread with leftist CNN journalists than grassroots Republicans. Sen. Romney on Trump legal action: It’s important for democracy that we don’t allege fraud. Utah Sen. Mitt Romney joins Chris Wallace on ‘Fox News Sunday.’ Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, is grieving over, as CNN reporter Dana Bash put it, President Trump's "very firm grip on the Republican Party." Bash recently asked Romney whether he fears the party won't "be able to overcome Trumpism in the near future." Romney didn't object to Bash's negative characterization of Trumpism. He merely responded that he believes "Trump will continue to have a substantial influence on the party" and that those other than Trump who are rumored to be GOP presidential candidates in 2024 "are trying to appeal to kind of a populist approach." Romney concluded: "I don't think Trumpism is going away, but I hope that we can have disagreements over policy and a vision of our respective parties without continuing to promote a narrative which puts democracy itself in jeopardy. And when you tell people that voting doesn't work and that democracy can't work because we don't have legitimate elections that is a very dangerous thing to be saying." Romney seems more comfortable breaking bread with leftist CNN journalists than grassroots Republicans. He clearly believes Trump is an ill- mannered rogue, but his remarks also confirm that he objects to the current direction of his party. More from Opinion. Like other Trump critics, Romney calls Trumpism "populist." He doubtlessly laments this trend. A populist is defined as "a person, especially a politician, who strives to appeal to ordinary people who feel that their concerns are disregarded by established elite groups." I admit that I used to associate "populism" with demagogic politicians who cynically appeal to the so-called common man to gain power for their own political gain without really being interested in improving the plight of ordinary people. But I don't believe that pejorative connotation applies to Trump or his agenda. The dictionary definition, however, does describe Trump — and his establishment nemeses. From the time he announced his candidacy in 2016, Trump has connected with ordinary Americans whose interests and wishes have been ignored by an elite Washington establishment, with its byzantine, unaccountable bureaucracy. Trump sold himself as an outsider who would bring a new, unorthodox approach to politics as usual that would focus on getting things done despite the bureaucratic roadblocks installed by our entrenched ruling class. Unlike former President Barack Obama and contrary to the left-wing media's lies, Trump didn't run roughshod over the Constitution to advance his agenda but brought a can-do businessman's approach to the Oval Office and achieved an impressive list of accomplishments in his first term. Trump did things previous politicians disingenuously promised to do, such as moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, and took action that previous politicians wouldn't have even considered, such as implementing Operation Warp Speed to produce multiple COVID-19 vaccines with previously unthinkable alacrity. Despite the haters' endless ridicule, Trump also pulled off a Middle East peace deal that is the secret envy of all establishment foreign policy "experts" who said it couldn't be done. None of these accomplishments or countless others are the work of a populist demagogue. But they do redound to the benefit of the common man and all Americans — just as Trump’s pro-growth economic policies benefited all income groups, especially minorities. This was the work of the dictionary-described populist, not the type of populist that soulmates Dana Bash and Mitt Romney have in mind. We can expect no different from the liberal Bash, but Romney's sanctimonious hypocrisy is getting older and older. Like his liberal friends, with whom he is more in step than the grassroots Republicans who nominated him in 2012, Romney believes that Trump's election contests threaten democracy. Nonsense. Trump has challenged the election through his bully pulpit and in courtrooms across the land because, along with millions of other Americans, he believes the election was stolen. Unsuccessful court challenges don't prove cheating didn't occur, nor do repeated claims that there "is no evidence." If the election was, in fact, stolen, I dare say that would, by definition, represent a far greater threat to democracy. Why doesn't Romney demand federal election reform to prohibit the relaxation of voting procedures? Why doesn't he crusade against social media oligarchs who censor conservative speech in a way that truly threatens democracy? Why doesn't he condemn liberal media bias against Trump and their lack of scrutiny of the failing Joe Biden? Why doesn't Romney call for an investigation into Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg for his having poured an obscene amount of money into this election? Why can't he grasp that the public's genuine distrust of the election's legitimacy imperils the democratic process infinitely more than Trump's rhetoric or legal challenges? We get nothing but crickets from Romney. Romney's unabashed hatred for Trump perhaps blinds him to the reality that Trump is a wildly popular president, notwithstanding that he is the object of hatred among those whose anti-American agenda he has thwarted. Lament all you want, Sen. Romney, because you are correct that Trumpism is here to stay, as his supporters appreciate and endorse his unapologetic pride in this country; his resistance to the left's destructive agenda, which itself is undemocratic in every sense; and Trump's agenda to literally make America great again. Mitt Romney on Government Reform. Former Republican Governor (MA); presidential nominee-apparent. If we're going to have unity, we need accountability. Regulation is essential; but it's excessive and outdated. ROMNEY: Regulation is essential. You can't have a free market work if you don't have regulation. As a businessperson, I need to know the regulations. You couldn't have people opening up banks in their garage and making loans. Every free economy has good regulation. At the same time, regulation can become excessive. Q: Is it excessive now, do you think? ROMNEY: In some places, yes. Other places, no. ROMNEY: It can become out of date. And what's happened with some of the legislation that's been passed during the president's term, you've seen regulation become excessive, and it's hurt the economy. Let me give you an example. Dodd-Frank includes within it a number of provisions that I think has some unintended consequences that are harmful to the economy. One is it designates a number of banks as too big to fail, and they're effectively guaranteed by the federal government. Source: First Obama-Romney 2012 Presidential debate , Oct 3, 2012. Regulatory cap: Repeal outdated regulations to make new ones. OBAMA: I directed the Office of Science and Technology Policy to ensure that our policies reflect what science tells us without distortion or manipulation. We appointed scientific advisors based on their credentials and experience, not their politics or ideology. Only by ensuring that scientific data is never distorted or concealed to serve a political agenda, making scientific decisions based on facts, not ideology, and including the public in our decision making process will we harness the power of science to achieve our goals. ROMNEY: I will ensure that the best available scientific and technical information guides decision-making in my Administration, and avoid the manipulation of science for political gain. And I will establish a regulatory cap, so that agencies spend as much time repealing and streamlining outdated regulations as they spend imposing new ones. Source: The Top American Science Questions, by sciencedebate.org , Sep 4, 2012. FactCheck: Ryan more liberal than Romney on campaign finance. Obama-Biden vs. Romney-Ryan on Economic Issues: Corporation Policy Wall Street Reform Recession Bailout Economic Stimulus Mortgage Crisis National Debt Balanced Budget Earmark Reform Campaign Finance Reform Union Policy Unemployment Job Creation Welfare State Social Security Privatization Capital Gains & Death Tax Income Tax Reform. Earmark system is broken; ban them with line-item veto. ROMNEY: I would put a ban on earmarks. I think it opens the door to excessive spending on projects that don't need to be done. You voted to the "Bridge to Nowhere." I think these earmarks, we've had it with them. The 6,000 earmarks that were put in place under Speaker Gingrich's term, for instance, were oftentimes tagged on to other bills. We've had thousands of earmarks. They are typically bundled on to other bills. SANTORUM: You're misrepresenting the facts. What happens in the earmark process was that members of Congress would publicly request these things, put them on paper, and have them allocated, and have them voted on. ROMNEY: And the president can't veto it? SANTORUM: He can veto the bill. ROMNEY: But he can't veto the earmark? SANTORUM: Well, we tried to do that. I supported a line-item veto. ROMNEY: That's what I support. Source: CNN's 2012 GOP Debate on eve of Arizona Primary , Feb 22, 2012. Make government simpler, smaller, and smarter. My agenda would make government simpler, smaller, and smarter. As President, I will repeal unnecessary regulations and restore our good credit rating. I will reduce tax rates and simplify the tax code, especially for middle-income Americans. I will streamline regulation, ensure the prompt review of projects, and order agencies to focus on economic growth. I would pledge to do all that a President can to get America working again. When it comes to the economy, my highest priority would be worrying about your job, not saving my own. Source: Prebuttal to 2012 State of the Union speech , Jan 24, 2012. 2004: Disallowed from appointing Kerry's Senate successor. I didn't inhale while governor; government is too big. 1994: campaign spending limits and the abolition of PACs. "I personally believe that when campaigns spend the kind of money they're now spending, to get that kind of money you've got to cozy up as an incumbent to all of the special-interest groups who can go out and raise money for you from their members, and that kind of relationship has an influence over the way you're going to vote. And for that reason I would like to have campaign spending limits and to say we're not going to spend more than this in certain campaigns. I also would abolish PACS. I don't like them. I don't like the influence of money--whether it's business, labor, or any other group. I do not like that kind of influence." Source: Club for Growth 2012 Presidential White Paper #5: Romney , Jun 7, 2011. 2002: publicly fund campaigns; 2008: repeal McCain-Feingold. As a presidential candidate in 2008, Mitt Romney pivoted drastically, abandoning his old anti-First Amendment stance and taking the harshest position against McCain-Feingold of all the candidates. He has called repeatedly for the legislation's repeal, and even labeled the bill "one of the worst things in my lifetime." Romney then advocated "reforms that promote transparency & disclosure, preserve grassroots activism and protect the ability to criticize or endorse current officeholders and candidates." Source: Club for Growth 2012 Presidential White Paper #5: Romney , Jun 7, 2011. Measure American success by series of cyclical indicators. The Prevalence of Freedom National Security Assessment Relative Productivity Relative GDP and Growth Rate Trade Share of the GDP Relative Market Shares in Growing, Traded-Product Industries Innovation Index National Debt and Liabilities Tax Bite (percentage of all taxes) Health- care Funding Gap Energy Burden Children Born Out of Wedlock Relative Educational Attainment Citizen Engagement. Dynamic regulations: forward-looking & consistently applied. We certainly suffered from the absence of dynamic regulation in the 2008 economic collapse, particularly in the area of housing finance. While some outdated regulations had been eliminated, modern replacements had not been put in place. The wholesale failure at the federal level to revise and refine outmoded regulatory structures even as the ever-aggressive private sector sought out new profit centers allowed the risks in the system to overwhelm the collective good. We know the bill we have all paid as a result. What is odd is that some are looking to the same people in Congress as source of wisdom on how to avoid a repeat of a fiasco. Source: No Apology, by Mitt Romney, p.138 , Mar 2, 2010. 1960s large donors avoided union influence in politics. I asked dad whether accepting large contributions encouraged corruption; surely the contributors wanted something in return. He replied that not once during his three terms in office did one of his contributors ask for a favor. They were some of Michigan's most prominent citizens, and instead of favors, they were looking for good government. I'm not defending the old system; I'm sure it had its share of abuses. But so does the current one. Source: No Apology, by Mitt Romney, p.274-275 , Mar 2, 2010. GovWatch: 1994: advocated spending limit on elections. In 1994, Romney advocated a spending limit on congressional elections and abolition of political action committees. In 2002, he supported public financing of campaigns from a 10 percent tax on private fund-raising. In 2008, he attacked the McCain-Feingold law limiting campaign contributions as an attack on free speech. Source: GovWatch on 2008 campaign: �Top Ten Flip-Flops� , Feb 5, 2008. Washington thinks �action� means committee meetings & Bills. A: First of all, it�s interesting to see how Washington politicians think about action. For them, it�s reaching across aisles and committee meetings and bills. Action, where I come from, means getting the job done, actually making things better for Americans. That means getting health care for citizens. It means balancing the budget. It means cutting out wasteful spending. It means creating jobs. That�s what I�ve spent my life doing. Source: CNN Late Edition: 2008 presidential series with Wolf Blitzer , Feb 3, 2008. Must know how America works, not just how Washington works. A: Does anyone really think that at a time when our economy is struggling, that the right course for America is to choose somebody who�s never had a job in the real economy? Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama--and Senator McCain for that matter--have spoken about all the things they do, but they�ve lived their lives in Washington. [How can] a lifelong Washington politician guide our country & build our economy, without having ever worked in the economy? You see, I think right now, it�s more important to know how America works than to know how Washington works. I think we have enough of the politicians, and it�s time to have somebody from outside Washington--like Ronald Reagan was outside Washington--go there, shake it up, get it back on the right track. Source: CNN Late Edition: 2008 presidential series with Wolf Blitzer , Feb 3, 2008. Use my own money in a campaign to try and change the US. Not concerned about voters on his campaign self-contribution. A: I�m not concerned about the voters. I�m much more concerned about the other guys on this stage. It�s competitive information we make sure that we use for our own benefit. I made a substantial contribution. I can�t imagine having gone to my friends and asked them to do what they�ve done, going out and raising money in my behalf, without saying I�m going to put some of my contributions behind this effort as well, because frankly, it�s important. Given the contributions I made in this race, I know I owe no one anything. I don�t have some group there that I have a special obligation to that raised money for me. I�m by far the biggest contributor to my own campaign. People can count on the fact that there�s no nobody that can call me and say, �Hey, look, you owe me,� because they don�t. Source: 2008 GOP debate in Boca Raton Florida , Jan 24, 2008. Washington is broken due to insider lobbyists & politicians. A: There�s no question in a campaign of 200 staff that you�re going to have a number who are registered lobbyists. But my campaign is run by my team from Massachusetts, and this is very definitely an outsider�s campaign. Washington fundamentally is broken, and people in this country want to see change, and that�s not going to happen by somebody who�s been there, for whom Washington is a way of life. Source: 2008 Fox News interview: �Choosing the President� series , Jan 20, 2008. McCain-Feingold hurt our party and hurt the First Amendment. A: Oh, I still think he�s a battler for change. He�s just been there 27 years and hasn�t been able to get the job done. He has brought some bills in place like McCain-Feingold, which hurt our party & I think hurt the First Amendment. He fought for immigration law, which I think was a terrible course, which said that all the illegal aliens that had come here illegally would be able to stay in this country forever. That was a mistake. Washington is broken. America is saying it loud and clear. You had in Iowa a number of experienced senators going up against folks that were new faces, governors, and the experienced senators lost. Source: 2008 Fox News interview: �Choosing the President� series , Jan 6, 2008. Signing statements are an important presidential practice. A: I share the view of many past presidents that signing statements are an important presidential practice. Source: Boston Globe questionnaire on Executive Power , Dec 20, 2007. Focus on global Jihad, immigration, tax cut, and healthcare. Line-item veto can & should pass constitutional muster. GIULIANI: The line-item veto is unconstitutional. I took Bill Clinton to the Supreme Court and beat him. It�s unconstitutional. What the heck can you do about that if you�re a strict constructionist? ROMNEY: I�m in favor of the line-item veto. I had it, used it 844 times. I want to see Libby Dole�s line-item veto put in place. I�d have never gone to the Supreme Court and said it�s unconstitutional. Q: Do you believe it is? ROMNEY: I believe the line-item veto, if properly structured, passes constitutional muster. I�m in favor of the line-item veto to make sure that the president is able to help cut out pork and waste. GIULIANI: You have to be honest with people. The line-item veto is unconstitutional. The Supreme Court has ruled on it. I am in favor of a line- item veto, except you have to do it legally. If I had let Pres. Clinton take $250 million away from the people of my city illegally and unconstitutionally, I wouldn�t have been much of a mayor. Source: 2007 Republican debate in Dearborn, Michigan , Oct 9, 2007. FactCheck: 844 line item vetoes; but over 700 overridden. Giuliani did challenge President Bill Clinton on the line-item veto after he used it to cut a provision that could have helped NYC�s bottom line. It was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1998. Romney is also correct to say that he exercised his state-level line-item veto power 844 times. But Romney doesn�t note that more than 700 of those vetoes were overridden by the overwhelmingly Democratic-controlled Legislature. Source: FactCheck on 2007 Republican debate in Dearborn MI , Oct 9, 2007. FactCheck: Romney had 700 line-item vetoes, President cannot. The overrides total 707 of the more than 800 line-item vetoes that Romney issued. So while Romney did indeed veto �hundreds of spending appropriations,� as he says in the ad, he had little to show for them. In the ad, Romney concludes, �Frankly, I can�t wait to get my hands on Washington!� If elected, however, he will find that his old job gave him more tools than the presidency. In Massachusetts, the governor can eliminate or reduce on specific line-item provisions in the budget. The so- called line-item veto allows a governor to turn down a single, particular spending measure rather than having to veto an entire bill. This is the power Romney used in his hundreds of budgetary vetoes. The president, however, does not have this authority. Source: FactCheck's AdWatch of 2007 campaign ad, �I Like Vetoes� , Jun 28, 2007. Never pardoned anyone as governor, but might pardon Libby. A: This is one of those situations where I go back to my record as governor. I didn�t pardon anybody as governor because I didn�t want to overturn a jury. But in this case, you have a prosecutor who clearly abused prosecutorial discretion by going after somebody when he already knew the source of the leak. He went on a political vendetta. I�d keep the option open [for a pardon]. Source: 2007 GOP debate at Saint Anselm College , Jun 3, 2007. McCain-Feingold law prevents free speech in campaigns. Open document policy overcame SLOC obfuscation & scandal. It is fair to say that SLOC was the most transparent organizing committee in Olympic history--perhaps among the most publicly accessible organizations in America. The public were in attendance at every Board meeting. We built a reading room at our own expense where the public could come to examine core documents. For all intents and purposes, we were naked. I don�t know that I would recommend such transparency for every organization. But given the scandal that had grown out of obfuscation, the only way I believe we could have restored confidence was with disclosure. Source: Turnaround, by Mitt Romney, p.173-174 , Aug 25, 2004. Balanced budget amendment and line-item veto. Opposed tax increases and new payroll taxes Supported balanced budget amendment and line-item veto Suggested savings could be made through cutbacks in the federal work force, reforms in the Medicaid system, and cuts in farm subsidies. Trickle-down government is not the answer. Now, I'm concerned that the path that we're on has just been unsuccessful. The president has a view very similar to the view he had when he ran four years, that a bigger government, spending more, taxing more, regulating more--if you will, trickle-down government--would work. That's not the right answer for America. I'll restore the vitality that gets America working again. Source: First Obama-Romney 2012 Presidential debate , Oct 3, 2012. CC:Appoint strict Constitutionalist judges. The Christian Coalition Voter Guide inferred whether candidates agree or disagree with the statement, 'Appointing Judges Who Will Adhere to a Strict Interpretation of the Constitution' Christian Coalition's self-description: "Christian Voter Guide is a clearing-house for traditional, pro-family voter guides. We do not create voter guides, nor do we interview or endorse candidates." 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Famous Ministers † Evangelical Authors Evangelicals† over Natl Organizations Statewide-Prominent Evangelicals† In 2002, Massachusetts' economy was rapidly deteriorating. It was ranked 50th, the second worst in the nation in its increase in unemployment. [1] Job losses were so great that although a dozen states were more populous, and California had over 5 times as many people [2] , Massachusetts lost more jobs than anywhere else in the country: “Massachusetts is number one in the nation in job losses, shedding 4.7 percent of all jobs over the last two years. The state has lost 71,000 manufacturing jobs, or 17 percent; 69,000, or nearly 14 percent, of all jobs in the professional and business services sector; and nearly 18 percent of all jobs in the information industry.” Boston Globe - A little perspective - Apr 25, 2003. Debt was mounting in the state government as jobs were leaving the state at such an alarming rate. “Antitax activist Barbara Anderson recalls leaving the following message on Romney's answering machine: ''I know you're really busy now with the Olympics, but when you're finished, please come back and save Massachusetts.'' “The state party's new chairwoman, Kerry Healey, discreetly flew to Salt Lake City to gauge his intentions. He was noncommittal.” Boston Globe - Taking office, remaining and outsider - Jun 29, 2007. “A "Draft Mitt" campaign sprouted up in the state. Ann Romney had grown to love living in Utah. (Among other reasons, she'd been found to have multiple sclerosis a few years earlier, and horseback riding in the Utah mountains was therapeutic.) And they still bore the scars of the 1994 campaign. But the forces beckoning Romney to run were too strong to resist. Nearly everyone, it seemed, wanted him.” The Atlantic - The Holy Cow! Candidate - Sep 2005. The economic situation was so grave, that after Romney decided to run, Tim Russert (from NBC) said: “Let's go to a very, very important issue confronting this state. It's fiscal health. This is what someone on Beacon Hill said just the other day: ''A lot of people think this has been bad. This was the warm-up! This was just spring training. There's no glimmer of economic optimism or life or confidence out there. The next governor, whoever it is, is going to have to address this aggressively.'' “ — Speaker Thomas Finnernan. “There's a $300 million shortfall. There is a $2 billion structural deficit confronting Massachusetts. The budget is $23 billion, 40% of which is off the table because of court mandates and laws that you must provide that kind of funding. With the remaining $12 billion, you have to find $2 billion. ” CSPAN - Massachusetts Gubernatorial Debate - Oct 29, 2002. Jim Cramer - TheStreet.com Plays Hardball about Romney. That was in October, but by December the Boston Globe reported it got even worse: “ "It's the worst I've seen it. Going back to the post-war era, I've never seen such an acute and focused fiscal crisis and particularly for the state government," said Richard P. Nathan, director of the Nelson Rockefeller Institute of Government at the State University of New York-Albany. “The estimated budget gap of $547 million in Massachusetts is among the largest in total dollars, according to the report by the National Conference of State Legislatures. Massachusetts officials have predicted that in the next fiscal year the shortfall will far exceed an earlier projection of $2 billion.” The Boston Globe - Deficits studies say crisis is worst since WWII - Dec 5, 2002. It continued to worsen. By the time Mitt Romney took office as governor of Massachusetts, the upcoming state budget for that year would have a structural deficit of nearly $3 billion if the budget was not cut. [3] Furthermore, the existing budget passed the previous year, that would be in effect for several more months, had a projected total deficit of approximately $1.2 billion [4] . He inherited about a $650 million deficit in that budget by the time he took office. [5] Governor Romney convinced the legislature to allow him to immediately make changes to the existing budget. He immediately slashed spending and balanced that budget. [6] He then balanced each of the four annual budgets he created. He was dealing with a veto-proof legislature that was 85% democrat, but he was able to 'hold the line on all the spending that the democrats up there wanted to do.' [7] The budgets he submitted, fought for and succeeded in obtaining not only were balanced each year, but provided a surplus of $700 million in 2004, [8] nearly $1 billion in 2005 [9a],[9b],[9c] and a surplus of $700 million in 2006. He balanced the budget every year without raising taxes. [10] By the end of his term, he had taken "Massachusetts from billions in deficit to billions in surplus". [11] He turned in a $2 billion rainy day fund at the end of his term in office. [12] The unemployment rate in Massachusetts had doubled from January 2001 to January 2003, the year Romney took office, and was continuing to increase at a fast rate. He implemented pro-growth policies and programs. By summer the increase in unemployment had stopped and by fall unemployment was dropping. [13] While Massachusetts was 50th, or nearly the worst in the nation in the increase in unemployment rates the year that just ended when he took office, he got it down to 38th place by the end of his first year in office. [14] The unemployment rate continued to rapidly drop for nearly two years, hit a plateau for about a year and a half, then started dropping again at the end of his term of office (see chart below). The year he left office (2007), the trend in Massachusetts' unemployment rate was 12th in the nation [15] , a big improvement from the 50th place it was in the year he won office. Jim Cramer - Mad Money Assesses Mitt Romney (1:33) Julian Robertson - Tiger Mgmt CEO Assesses Romney - 0:30. “Mitt Romney has the right combination of private sector experience, conservative principles, and leadership to address the enormous challenges that the United States faces in the international economy,” said former Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez. “His trade agenda is unique in its steadfast commitment to free trade coupled with a willingness to confront nations that betray principles of free enterprise to exploit our own open market. This approach is necessary to restore a pro-growth business environment that will create jobs.” MittRomney.com - Oct 13, 2011. “Half of the 36 economists who responded to the Dec. 14-20 AP survey rated Obama’s economic policies “fair.” And 13 called them “poor.” Just five of the economists gave the president “good” marks. None rated him as “excellent.” . “Asked which of the Republican presidential candidates would do the best job managing the economy, two thirds of the economists named Romney, one chose former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. The rest didn’t pick anyone at all.” Washington Post - Economists underwhelmed by Obama’s policies, pick Romney over his Republican rivals - Dec 28, 2011. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics - Massachusetts (retrieved November 2008) While jobs were shrinking by the thousands each month in Massachusetts when he took office [16] , by the time he left office, "the state had attracted hundreds of new companies and added [a net total of] 60,000 new jobs." [17] It takes time for pro-growth policies to effect the economy, but before the end of his first year in office the job losses had stopped, and in his remaining time in office 81,000 new jobs were created. [18] The people in the state benefited not only by increased employment and not having their taxes raised, but they also saw attempted and successful tax cuts by the governor. He sought to lower the state income tax from 5.3% to 5.0% but was unable to get the legislature to agree. [19] But he did succeed in lowering the total taxes paid to Massachusetts from an average of 7.33% of residents' income in 2003 when he entered office to 6.99% in 2007 when he left office and the year of his final budget. During that period, taxes paid to other states increased from an average of 2.6% of residents' income in 2003 to 2.9% in 2007, resulting in the total state and local tax burden on Massachusetts residents being 9.9% in 2007, the same rate as it was in 2003. During that same period, from 2003-2007, the average state and local tax burden in the U.S. increased from 9.6% of income to 9.8%. Governor Romney bucked the trend resulting in Massachusetts dropping from the 13th highest taxed state in the nation, to the 17th. [20] [21] Businessman Romney- how he differed in govt ways of spending. Romney on how he balanced the budget & used funds (2:44) (double click for full screen) This 7.33% to 6.99% tax drop is more incredible when one takes into account that those rates include local taxes which went up during that period, particularly after his first year in office when he cut spending (after which he focused more on tax cuts rather than more spending cuts). POLITICO. 'The right course for America is to believe in growth,' Mitt Romney said. Romney unveils 59-point jobs plan. 09/06/2011 05:20 PM EDT. Updated 09/07/2011 07:07 AM EDT. NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Two days ahead of the joint session of Congress where Barack Obama will unveil his jobs plan, Mitt Romney debuted his own set of proposals he said would put an immediate jolt into the languishing economy while restructuring national policy for the long haul. The plan includes 59 policies in a 160-page book, as well as 10 actions that he’d take on his very first day in the Oval Office. “The right course for America is to believe in growth,” Romney said, speaking extemporaneously from handwritten notes in recession-wracked Southern Nevada on Tuesday. “Growing our economy is the way to put people to work and fund our national budget.” Many of Romney’s proposed policies are standard GOP fare: cutting corporate taxes, reducing government spending, eliminating burdensome regulations, expanding U.S. energy production and restricting the power of labor unions. The plan calls for immediate action in the form of five bills and five executive orders Romney said he would propose on his first day in office – a pledge underscored by banners reading “Day One, Job One” that adorned the stage surrounded by hulking semi cabs in a truck warehouse here. By presenting his plan Tuesday, Romney hoped to pre-empt President Obama’s planned jobs speech before Congress Thursday, as well as Wednesday’s POLITICO/MSNBC GOP presidential debate. “[Obama]’s giving a speech in a couple of days,” Romney said. “I haven’t read it, but I know what’s coming – I’ve seen version one, two, three, four and five. They’re not working.” Brandishing his smartphone, Romney conjured a technological metaphor for the president’s proposals. “President Obama’s strategy is a payphone strategy, and we’re in a smartphone world,” he said. “What he’s doing is taking quarters and stuffing them into a payphone, and he can’t figure out why it’s not working. It’s not connected anymore, Mr. President.” Romney also took a swipe at Obama that could apply to some of his competitors who have spent most of their careers in government – chiefly Texas Gov. Rick Perry. “I think to create jobs, it helps to have had a job, and I have,” he said. Though Romney didn’t attack any of his GOP rivals in his speech - and even referred to Obama as “not a bad guy” - that didn’t stop them from weighing in with criticism of his proposals. “As governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney failed to create a pro-jobs environment and failed to institute many of the reforms he now claims to support,” a spokesman for Perry, Mark Miner said in a statement, contrasting Texas’s status as a top job creator during Perry’s terms as governor. Meanwhile, before Romney spoke Tuesday, Huntsman’s campaign posted a web video with a reference to job growth under Romney’s leadership. “Jon Huntsman: Utah, No. 1,” the video says. “About the same time, another governor led Massachusetts. Led them close to the very bottom.” Though Romney repeatedly emphasized he wanted to aim his focus on the middle class, which he described as bearing the brunt of the economic doldrums, his chief prescription was to eliminate taxes for those earning less than $200,000 on capital gains, dividends and interest — a tax paid primarily by the wealthy. The Obama campaign, responding to Romney’s speech, accused him of merely paying lip service to average Americans. “While Mitt Romney spoke today about the struggles of the middle class, he offered a plan that would tip the scales against hard-working Americans,” Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt said. “Gov. Romney repackaged the same old policies that helped create the economic crisis: boosting oil company profits and allowing Wall Street to write its own rules, more tax breaks for large corporations and more tax cuts for the wealthiest while working Americans are forced to carry a greater burden.” Another Republican contender, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, also unveiled a jobs plan last week. Though it shared many characteristics with Romney’s plan, including proposals to expedite pending free-trade agreements and eliminate capital-gains taxes, Huntsman – the former U.S. ambassador to China – didn’t mention China. Romney, by contrast, has put confronting China at the center of his plan, an approach his advisers expect to draw controversy. One of his 10 first-day actions would be an executive order to sanction China for its trade practices and the manipulation of its currency. Romney also would create a new multinational trade group called the “Reagan Economic Zone,” described in his plan as “a multilateral trading bloc open to any country committed to the principles of open markets and free enterprise.” The idea, advisers said, is to supplement and improve on the flawed World Trade Organization by forming a new alliance exclusively of trusted trading partners – presumably excluding, and providing a counterweight to, China. “I’ll clamp down on the cheaters, and China’s the worst example of that,” he said, pointing to its currency manipulation and lack of intellectual- property enforcement. “I certainly don’t want a trade war, but we can’t have a trade surrender either,” he said. According to his campaign, by the end of Romney’s first term, his proposals would lead to GDP growth averaging 4 percent per year over four years; 11.5 million additional private-sector jobs; an unemployment rate reduced to 5.9 percent and a reduction in spending of $1.6 trillion less than the projected amount under the current administration. But despite the pages of specifics, some significant ambiguities remain. While Huntsman proposed setting new individual income tax brackets at 8 percent, 14 percent and 23 percent; Romney, while committing to reform the income tax code for individuals, didn’t say how he planned to do so. A senior Romney policy adviser said those decisions would hinge on other aspects of the plan, such as spending reform and corporate tax reform. The adviser also referred repeatedly to “base broadening” – taxing items that are currently exempted by eliminating deductions and credits – but wouldn’t say specifically how that would be done. Some conservatives view the elimination of so-called “tax expenditures” as a tax hike.